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Children's Fiction The BFG (book) Roald Dahl 2020 The BFG (short for The Big Friendly Giant) is a 1982 children's book written by British novelist Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake. It is an expansion of a short story from Dahl's 1975 book Danny, the Champion of the World. Sophie is first seen in an orphanage, having trouble sleeping when she saw a large, black-cloaked figure in the streets. It spots Sophie and Sophie tries to run, but the figure sticks a large hand in and takes Sophie. The figure strides across England and many other countries when they arrive in Giant Country. The BFG is tells the story of 8 year old orphan, Sophie, and the adventures she has with a giant man, or BFG. External Website

Autobiography/Memoir Someone to Love Us Terence O’Neill 2010 The harrowing true story of the young boy who captured the heart of the nation when he testified in court, to find justice against those responsible for his brother’s death. Terry O’Neill was just ten years old when he stood up in court to testify against his brutal foster parents, accused of the manslaughter of his twelve-year-old brother, Dennis. Terry and his brother had been taken into care and moved through many foster homes until they came to live on the Shropshire farm owned by Reginald and Esther Gough in 1945. There they were to suffer brutal beatings and little care or love – they survived as best they could, looking out for each other, until the terrible morning when Terry couldn’t wake Dennis. In a time when the country was united by war and struggle, the case shocked the nation and made headlines around the world. Terry, a small figure in the courtroom, captured the hearts of mothers and families everywhere, and the public outcry against the foster services led to the instigation of the first provisions to protect other vulnerable children from neglect and cruelty. (see also The Mousetrap and Three Blind Mice by Agatha Christie) External Website

Academic Articles Contemplating Fictional and Nonfictional Orphan Stories (2004) Dennis Leoutsakas 2004 Throughout our lives we move from one story to the next. Whether we are listeners, readers, writers, or tellers, “we live our lives immersed in stories” (Simpkinson & Simpkinson, 1993, p. 1). From the many stories we encounter, both fiction and nonfiction, the orphan-as-hero stands out as one of the most prominent figures in literature. This paper considers three powerful issues related to orphan stories. First, it analyzes the legendary orphan-heroes used in fictional literature. Second, it demonstrates the differences between imagined orphans and orphans. Finally, after comparing the previous findings, this paper concludes by discussing the value of a new form of fictional literature and suggesting examples of story blending that link traditional fiction with actual narratives. External Website

Television Shows Irreverent 2022 Irreverent (2022) is an Australian television series with a 16-year-old in what appears to be an informal foster care arrangement. Colin Donnell as Paulo, a career criminal from Chicago who is on the run and forced to hide out in a small town in Far North Queensland. Posing as a Church of England minister, Paulo is persuaded (by the local cop) to allow homeless Daisy (Tegan Stimson) to continue living in the manse. Paulo even goes so far as to accept Daisy into his ‘pastoral care’ when a judge wants to send her off to juvenile detention for stealing painkillers. For her part, clever Daisy figures out Paulo's scam early on and helps to protect his identity. External Website

Actors Ingrid Bergman Ingrid Bergman (29 August 1915 – 29 August 1982) was a Swedish actress who starred in a variety of European and American films, television movies, and plays. She was in kinship care as a teenager. Ingrid was only 3 years old when her mother died. Justus raised his daughter for the next 9 years with the help of his sister Ellen—whom Ingrid called Mama—and, being a photographer—he also owned and ran a camera shop—took many photos and home movies of his daughter. “During her childhood” writes David Smith, “Bergman may have been the most photographed person in Sweden.” Ingrid was 12 when her father died of stomach cancer. When her father died, Ingrid was left in the care of Aunt Ellen for a few months, until her aunt’s death 9 months later. The teenager then went to live with an uncle. She won many accolades, including three Academy Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, four Golden Globe Awards, and a BAFTA Award. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Bergman as the fourth-greatest female screen legend of Classic Hollywood Cinema. External Website

Films/Videos Re-homing': America's shocking trade in unwanted children 2018 A disturbing story about the unregulated practice in the United States of 're-homing' children who have been adopted. Events are held where children get to parade before prospective parents, and some get taken on 'probation'. Events are held where children get to parade before prospective parents, and some get taken on 'probation'. 0 years in prison for their crimes against children. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience The Orphan Master's Son Adam Johnson 2012 The protagonist in The Orphan Master's Son is an orphan who grows up to become a model citizen and who struggles with life in North Korea. Themes of propaganda, state power, identity and the low status of orphans are entwined through out. The novel was awarded the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2013. Shortly after Jun Do’s birth in a North Korean orphanage, his mother is carted off to Pyongyang, never to be seen again. His father (the eponymous orphan master) is unable or unwilling to show favoritism, so Jun Do is punished, starved and over-worked along with the other orphans. This is a dark, satirical novel about what happens when love is forbidden and a totalitarian regime attempts to take the place of family. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience 1989 Val McDermid 2022 Val McDermid's 1989 (2022) has Allie Burns investigate mischief by Big Pharma in the context of the AIDS crisis. Tucked into the background is the WWII story of a Jewish baby being given away to a Polish couple to save the child's life. In 1989, that baby's son wants to find out more about his Jewish heritage and in the process a media moghul's 'dark secret' is exposed. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience Mister Pip Lloyd Jones 2006 Mister Pip by NZ writer, Lloyd Jones, tells the story of a group of children on the Island of Bourganville being read Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. The initiative is that of the only white man left on the Island, Mr Watts, who says that he was orphan as a child in New Zealand. Bourganville is in the middle of a civil war and the story helps the children to 'escape' their difficult circumstances, at least for a while every day. 13-year-old Matilda is the protagonist and she describes her night time reflections on the day's readings and how her mother, a devout Christian, becomes disturbed by Matilda's fondness for the book. As a young adult, Matilda decides to investigate Dickens further for her PhD thesis, an investigation that, necessarily, involves a trip to England. Read this delightful review by Dr Dee Michell, link below. External Website

Behind the Scenes Sean Geoghegan Sean Geoghegan is of mixed Irish and Scots parentage. His mother was a 16 year old runaway. Due to family breakdown, Sean was placed in voluntary care in 1964. He is the eldest of four brothers. He was placed in a large village style children’s home in the countryside and experienced a brutal institutional life until 1970 when community care was introduced. Sean Geoghegan describes himself as a 'Trailblazer' in the rights movement for children in care. Developed & Advised NAYPIC 1979-86. Writer & Film/TV maker. Lecturer & Mentor. Media Assessor. External Website

Television Shows Dickensian 2015 Dickensian is a British drama which brings many of Charles Dickens' characters - including those who are Care Experienced - together in the one Victorian neighborhood as a murder is being investigated. External Website

Television Shows Total Control 2021 Total Control is an Australian political drama tracing the political travails of Aboriginal woman, Alex Irving (Deborah Mailman). In the 2nd series the topic of the child protection system and the over-representation of Aboriginal children in the system is explored. An anoymous complaint is made about Alex Irving's care of her teenage son, Eddie. A 'care plan' is put in place, but Eddie decides he wants to stay in his home town of Winton, Queensland while his mother pursues her career in Canberra. Alex signs over guardianship of her son to her sister. External Website

Writers Roger Dean Kiser American writer, Roger Dean Kiser, was made a ward of the state and deposited in an orphanage in Lakeland, Florida when he was 5 years old. Kiser’s mother abandoned her 3 children, leaving them alone at home in California. After the police stepped in, young Roger spent some time with grandparents before being sent to first to the Lakeland Orphanage and then to the Children’s Home Society, in Jacksonville, Florida. He also spent time at the notorious Florida School for Boys because of “breaking the rules” at the Children’s Home. As an adult, Roger Dean Kiser worked as a nurse for many years. He is the author of numerous books and his writing is inspired by his life in the Jacksonville Children’s Home and his time at the Florida School for Boys. External Website

Television Shows Thou Shalt Not Steal 2024 Thou Shalt Not Steal (2024) is an Australian black comedy featuring the escape from youth detention of 17-year-old Aboriginal protagonist Robyn (Sherry-Lee Watson) who declares as she leaves: “Them missionaries reckon thou shalt not steal. Bit rich from the Bible-bashing bastards that stole our country!” Robyn teams up with Gidge (Will McDonald), the son of unscrupulous bible-bashing Robert (Noah Taylor) and the pair go in search for the father Robyn has never met. Robyn and Gidge are chased from Alice Springs to Adelaide by Robert and Maxine (Miranda Otto), a former sex worker turned cabbie & drug dealer. “Thou Shalt Not Steal has future classic written all over it” writes Luke Buckmaster in The Guardian (17 October 2024). External Website

Performing Arts Jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917 – June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the First Lady of Song, Queen of Jazz, and Lady Ella. Ella Jane Fitzgerald was born in Virginia. By the time Ella was almost 3, her parents, William and Tempie (an abbreviation of Temperance), were living in New York City. Shortly after William disappeared and Tempie began living with Joseph, or Joe, Da Silva in Yonkers, Westchester County, New York. In 1932, Ella’s mother, Tempie, died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 38. For a while Ella stayed on with her half sister, Frances, and stepfather, but rumours started spreading that Joe wasn’t treating his stepdaughter well. Joe died not long after Tempie and then Frances, too, moved in with the girls’ aunt in Harlem. Ella dropped out of school and began “running numbers" which saw Ella caught by authorities and end up in the New York State Training School for Girls in Hudson, New York. She hated being there and ran away in 1934. Unable to return to her aunt’s house, in case she was caught, Ella was homeless for quite some time. Determined to “make something” of herself, in November 1934 Ella entered and won a competition for new talent at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. In January 1935 she won another competition at the Harlem Opera House, which was noted in the New York Age. Then an opportunity opened up for her in May that year when William “Chick” Webb (1905-1939) gave her a job as the vocalist for his band. The job lasted until Webb’s death, after which Ella Fitzgerald began recording and performing solo in theatres. During the 1950s Ella Fitzgerald became a bestselling recording artist. She appeared on television and in films as well as continuing to perform in theatres internationally. Ella Fitzgerald was awarded 14 Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1967. Amongst numerous other awards she received an Honorary Doctorate from Harvard University in 1990 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992. External Website

Artists Lonnie Holley African-American artist and musician, Lonnie Holley (b. 1950) was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He was the 7th of 27 children and had a difficult childhood including being sent out to work at the age of 5 and living in various foster homes. Lonnie Holley began his career as an artist by carving (in 1979) tombstones for his sister’s 2 children who had died in a house fire. From there, he made other carvings which in 1981 were displayed at the Birmingham Museum of Art. Soon his work was being bought by many institutions and has been displayed at the White House. Lonnie Holley began his career as a musician in 2006. He released his 4th album in 2022 to critical acclaim. External Website

Films/Videos Goodnight, Mister Tom 1998 Goodnight, Mister Tom is a TV movie starring John Thaw, Nick Robinson, and Annabelle Apsion. A shy and quiet World War II evacuee is housed by a disgruntled old man, and they soon develop a close bond. External Website

Performing Arts Australian, singer, entertainer Sharyn Crystal Australian singer and entertainer, Sharyn Killens (also known as Sharyn Crystal, b. 1948, was in as born at a time when illegitimacy and black skins were problematic in Australia, and abortions dangerous. Her mother chose, therefore, to keep her baby—the father of whom was an African American serviceman—but to not raise her. Instead, Grace initially put baby Sharyn into foster care. In 1950, friends of Grace, concerned about the child, travelled out to Liverpool and were appalled to discover she was covered with lice and bruises. Ellie and Dorrie retrieved Sharyn, and cared for her over the next 3 and a half years. In 1954 it was Grace’s turn to retrieve Sharyn from her friends’ care, this time taking the now five year old to St Martha’s Industrial Home. When Sharyn was 9, and after a couple of Christmas holidays with her grandmother and mother, Sharyn began running away from St Martha’s, until finally, in 1960, she was allowed to live permanently at her grandmother's. Until in 1961, Grace and Sharyn moved in with Grace’s husband, Lars. Openly rebellious and defiant, Sharyn hung out on the streets until she was eventually charged, as a 15 year old, with “being exposed to moral danger” and taken to the Glebe Children’s Shelter. Eventually Sharyn found herself locked up the notorious Parramatta Girls Home with up to 160 other girls who’d been neglected and abused by parents and/or the state. From there she was imprisoned in the hard core jail, the Hay Institution for Girls. As an adult Sharyn tried out a range of work. She trained as a nurse, became an exotic dancer, worked in musical theatre and “and as a housekeeper and personal assistant” for 20 years. From 1985, Sharyn worked on cruises as an entertainer, her professional name being Sharyn Crystal. External Website

Radio & Podcast Can new scientific evidence prove a convicted child-killer is innocent? | 60 Minutes Australia 60 Minutes Australia 2021 Kathleen Folbigg (b. 1967) was made a Ward of the State when she was 18 months old, after the murder of her mother by her father. At age 3 she was moved from foster care into a children's home and then into a more permanent foster care placement. In 2003, Folbigg was convicted of murdering three infant children, and the manslaughter of the fourth. New scientific evidence suggests she may be innocent, that her daugters died of natural causes. Petitions have gone to the NSW Governor to review the evidence. External Website

Films/Videos Child 44 2015 There are 2 characters in this film who were in an orphanage during the Ukrainian Holodomor. One runs away from the orphanage, is taken in by a Red Army united and adopted, and has a successful career working for the Soviet Union. The other has a useful working career but also becomes a serial killer. The film is based on the 2008 book of the same name by Tom Rob Smith. External Website